Candy Desserts

We hope your freezer is overflowing with frozen fantastic-ness, and your ice cream bowl never empty. We also hope you’re keeping your ice cream as cool as it is cold by experimenting with toppings new and old. Need a little inspiration? We think we might have some extra lying around!

We don’t have any issue whatsoever with typical ice cream toppings, whether you pile on the peanuts or go a little crazy with chocolate sauce. But we do like to mix things up from time to time, foregoing ice cream topping classics for something unexpected and a bit more adventurous. Here’s a few of our favorites – and please share yours in the comments!

Boston Baked Beans – Simply can’t skip the peanuts, but are open to a new take on them? Grab yourself a box of Boston Baked Beans! Those candy coated peanuts we all know and love taste terrific atop a scoop of vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip or coffee ice cream. We’re certain they taste good with other flavors as well, but if we did all the research that wouldn’t be very fair to all of you!

Whoppers Malted Milk Balls – We tried these atop chocolate, vanilla with peanut butter swirl, and chocolate chip cookie dough, and we’re prepared to cast our verdict. According to the very scientific topping research conducted at Blair Candy Headquarters, you cannot go wrong with Whoppers! In fact, these complement ice cream so perfectly that we’re a little let down we haven’t been enjoying them together for years. (Note: Research was not scientific at all; we just ate delicious thing. Happily!)

Raspberry Gummy Pretzels – Not only are these fruity cuties tasty on their own, but they add an extra ‘dash o’ summer’ to any frozen treat they top. We tried them on rainbow sherbet, caramel ice cream, and vanilla frozen yogurt. And if our trials were the SATs, each of those combos would be primed for a seriously good scholarship to Yum University!

Happy Independence Day, everyone! And thanks for taking a few minutes to stop by between burgers grilling and fireworks popping. Since we’re in full 4th swing here as well, we thought this would be the perfect time to share some of our own treat ideas with you, each of which is ideal for Independence Day, but would work all summer long!

Red, White and Blue Berries: We’ve seen strawberries popping up all over Facebook, dipped in white chocolate before getting the sugar treatment with blue candy crystals. Plenty of parents have been posting them as their kiddos helped with their creation, and they really couldn’t be cuter! But we do think there’s something that might taste even better than blue sugar – Blue Sixlets. The combo of chocolate, white chocolate and strawberry is what freedom is all about!

Revolutionary Red Velvet Cupcakes: We aren’t going to lie; there isn’t much you can do to a red velvet cupcake topped with buttercream frosting to make it any better. It’s like the Ryan Gosling of cupcakes – so close to perfection that it isn’t worth the risk of trying to make it any more amazing! But we like to live on the edge – we like to push the envelope on awesome. But only a little! So we’ll be sticking with our favorite recipe for red velvet cupcakes and buttercream frosting, and dropping just a few Blue Sixlets atop each to make it as American as it is delish!

Patriotic Jello Petites: When the summer sun is beating down and temps are climbing into the 90s, many of us look for lighter treats to snack on. And today looks as though it’s shaping up to be quite toasty! This one requires just a few minutes and a few ingredients. You can purchase already-made red Jello packs (strawberry is my fave!), or make your own at home in small glasses or even Dixie cups. Once the Jello is ready, squirt on a little whipped cream and garnish with Blue Sixlets. Easy, economical, and not a ton of calories!

May means Mother’s Day, and the way to this mother’s heart is through chocolate!  As much as I love chocolate, though, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate cake. But give me some vanilla cupcakes with chocolate accents, and now we’re talking!  I found this Chocolate Chip Cupcake tasty treat that can easily be adapted in all kinds of fun ways to make moms’ mouths’ water.

Instead of chocolate chips, substitute Snocaps! (non-pareils) You’ll still get that bittersweet bite, but with an added sweet surge from the white candy micro-beads as well.

Or, how about some sweet Sixlets, in any color of the rainbow? Take it one step further and add a splash of your mom’s favorite color with food coloring to your batter and/or icing. Imagine pale pink cupcakes with pink Sixlets in the cupcake as well as in [or on top of] the frosting.

You will need: (for an easy alternative, see below *)

> 3 1/4 cup sifted cake flour (not self-rising)

> 1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder

> 1/4 teaspoon salt

> 7 ounce (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

> 1 3/4 cup sugar

> 1 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

> 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

> 5 large egg whites, room temperature

> 2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (Or, use nonpareils or Sixlets)

> Chocolate Chip Icing (Or, use basic vanilla or buttercream icing, and mix in Sixlets or crushed non-pareils in place of chocolate chips)

Directions:

> Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

> Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. In a separate bowl, mix milk and vanilla together. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in three additions, alternating with milk mixture, and ending with dry ingredients.

> Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, and fold into batter. Fold in chocolate chips, Sixlets, or crushed non-pareils. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

> Bake cupcakes 22 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. After cooling, frost with icing.  For best results, keep cupcakes in refrigerator until a few minutes before serving.

* If you are in a hurry, hate to bake, and/or are working with children on the project, use a simple white cake boxed cake mix, but add in the non-pareils or Sixlets (and the food coloring, if you choose), and follow the baking directions on the box for cupcakes.

We just love the fresh feeling of renewal that comes along with the Easter holiday, and we can’t help smiling happily that it’s another candy-coated holiday, too! We’ve been so busy helping the Easter bunny stock up on all his goodies for his Easter morning candy hop that we just seem to have forgotten how hungry we are for an Easter-themed dessert! Easter is tasted best with a bit of indulgence on top, and we searched the Internet over (okay, FoodNetwork.com), for the very best vanilla cupcake and buttercream icing recipe. We of course added our own BlairCandy.com twist to it – complete with Reeses Easter eggs and all

The Easter Bunny’s Favorite Vanilla Buttercream Cupcakes

Courtesy of:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/magnolias-vanilla-cupcake-recipe/index.html

Yields 24 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

• Easter-themed muffin cups
• 1.5 cups self-rising flour
• 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 sticks softened, unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing Ingredients:

• 2 sticks softened, unsalted butter
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ½ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extra
• Gel icing in pastel Easter colors
• Your favorite Easter candy varieties to top it off!

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. While you’re waiting for the oven to pre-heat, tell the following Easter joke:

Q: How did the eggs leave the highway?

A: They went through the “Eggs-it”!

2. Line two, 12-capacity muffin tins with the Easter-themed muffin cups.

3. Combine the flours in a small bowl.

4. In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to blend the butter until smooth and creamy. Slowly add the sugar, and beat about three minutes, until it has more of a fluffy consistency – like the Easter Bunny’s tail! Then, add the eggs one at a time, continuing to blend after each is added. Start adding the dry cupcake ingredients, alternating between the milk and vanilla. Beat until well blended.

5. Once blended, use a rubber spatula and spoon to fill the Easter-themed cupcake liners with your batter mixture, so that they’re each about ¾ full.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick in and it comes out clean.

7. While you’re waiting for the cupcakes to finish baking, whip up your Extraordinary Easter Icing!

8. Place the 2 sticks of butter in a large bowl, and then add 4 cups of sugar, milk, and vanilla. Use an electric mixer on medium and mix until creamy, around 3-5 minutes. Start adding the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, until the icing is up to par and can be spread easily on the cupcake.

9. Add a few drops of the Easter-themed gel icing to your buttercream mixture. You can even separate the mixture at this point into a few small bowls, and add different Easter-themed gel icing colors to each bowl!

10. Make sure the buttercream is safely guarded from the Easter Bunny, or it’ll be gone in the flash of a hare!

11. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, start icing them. Top them off with your most scrumptious Easter candies – think Mike and Ike Jelly Beans, Reeses Easter Eggs, Cadbury Mini Easter Crème Eggs, oh, the list is endless!

The Easter Bunny is licking his lips over these “egg-celent” Easter Cupcakes, with Easter candy yumminess on top. Our Blair Candy staff is ready to take a little break from stocking our shelves full of bags and bags of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, and is happy to take a bite out of these vanilla cupcakes – before the Easter Bunny hops away with them!

Photo from TasteOfHome.com

As I stood in line at the grocery store over the weekend watching the woman in front of me unload what must have been the 100th can of soup onto the belt, I decided to make the most of my wait and flip through the magazines at the register. I skipped over the tabloids in favor of something more appealing – the brightly-colored little glossy full of Thanksgiving recipe cards, taste of home. While I whole-heartedly recommend you grab a copy for yourself, I should warn you this is not an issue to read while hungry. It is absolutely packed with deliciousness! But beyond the mouthwatering recipes for apple & herb roasted turkey and gingered pumpkin bisque – and mouthwatering they are! – I came across a couple dessert recipes that broke the traditional Thanksgiving mold of pies and muffins. Don’t get me wrong, I love pies and muffins! But these petite treats are much cuter, and include candy, which I’m kinda partial to.

Turkey Pilgrim Cookies – The first candy-covered dessert to catch my eye was the Turkey Pilgrim Cookies. These are almost too cute to eat, but I think if I close my eyes I can manage! The recipe calls for the following ingredients, which should give you some insight into what makes these so good: Oreos, candy corn, miniature peanut butter cups, candy corn kisses, chocolate frosting, vanilla frosting, mini marshmallows, mini Oreos, Rolos and orange food coloring. And the best part, other than all the tasty ingredients, that is? There is absolutely no baking required! The frosting serves as a ‘glue’ of sorts for all the candy and cookie building blocks making these a dessert the little ones that can help put together. As there is no baking required, the kids can create these while you’re cooking to keep them busy, or it can be a fun family project the night before.

Pilgrim Hat Cookies – Just like the Turkey Pilgrim Cookies above there is no baking required for these yummy treats. Ingredients include: vanilla frosting, yellow food coloring, orange mini Chiclets, miniature peanut butter cups and fudge-striped cookies – that’s it! These are even easier to create than the Turkey Pilgrim Cookies, though I have to admit they aren’t quite as cute. What can I say – a dessert with marshmallow eyes wins my top vote! That said, I plan to make both cookie and candy concoctions this season, if not for Thanksgiving itself as a fall-themed snack for anytime. After all, with so much amazingness on Thanksgiving day, and the days full of delish leftovers that follow, I want to give my candy-packed desserts an opportunity to shine.

The Thanksgiving Recipes Cards issue of taste of home is $4.99 and marked for sale through November 22, 2011. Grab your copy the next time you hit the grocery store, and check out more great recipes on TasteOfHome.com today!